Folk Visions and Voices: Traditional Music and Song in Northern Georgia

Early Mountain Songs, Ballad, & Tunes - Black Religious Singing

Ethnic Folkways Records – FE 34161

Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 1984
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk
[Tracklist]
A01 I'm Going to Georgia: Berthie Rogers, Paralee McCloud, and Lawrence Eller (03:05)
A02 The Little Ship (The Golden Vanity)(Child No. 286): Paralee McCloud (02:15)
A03 Cindy in the Summertime: Lawrence and Vaughn Eller (02:19)
A04 Snowbird: Ross Brown and Howard Cunningham (00:50)
A05 Don't Go Ridin' Down That Old Texas Trail: Lawrence Eller, and Vaughn Eller (02:06)
A06 What You Gonna Name That Pretty Baby?: Leatha Eller (02:41)
A07 The Famous Wedding: Maude Thacker (01:27)
A08 Once I Had an Old Grey Mare: Maude Thacker (01:40)
A09 As I Walked Out One Morning in Spring: W. Guy Bruce (01:13)
A10 The Lily of the West: W. Guy Bruce (02:43)
A11 Shout Lulu: W. Guy Bruce (02:42)
B01 Walk with Me: Brady "Doc" and Lucy Barnes (02:25)
B02 Dead and Gone: Brady "Doc" Barnes (02:06)
B03 My Number Will Be Changed: Naomi Bradford (03:48)
B04 Soon, One Mornin': Willie Gresham (05:02)
B05 Brother, You Ought T've Been There: Nathaniel Mitchell, and Fleeta Mitchell (01:34)
B06 I Don't Know How We Made It Over: Brown's Chapel Choir, and Imogene Riggens (02:57)
B07 No Room at the Hotel: Otha Cooper (03:53)
B08 Welcome Home: Brown's Chapel Choir, Imogene Riggens, and Bea Robinson (03:30)
[Credits]
Producer and Recorder: Art Rosenbaum, Photographer: Margo Newmark Rosenbaum, Designer: Ronald Clyne
[Notes]
Beginning in 1977, renowned folklorist Art Rosenbaum traveled around northern Georgia making field recordings of songs learned from the oral tradition. The outcome was a two-volume anthology and a book by the same title. The first half of Volume 1 features "early mountain songs, ballads and tunes" ranging from ancient British ballads to more recent breakdowns and love songs. The second half presents "black religious singing" (traditional spirituals), some of which are recorded in a local church. Rosenbaum's liner notes provide detailed information about the singers and each song, as well as complete lyrics and photographs of the musicians and singers.

Iron Mountain String Band: Someday We'll Meet Again

Old Time Music of the Southern Mountains

Folkways Records – FA 3836

Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1981
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Old Time
[Tracklist]
A1 Sally Anne (3:35)
A2 Peggy Dear (4:08)
A3 Chicken Reel (2:30)
A4 Poor Ellen Smith (3:48)
A5 Cruel War (2:38)
A6 Little Maggie (3:05)
A7 Waterbound (3:58)
B1 Lonesome Road Blues (2:20)
B2 Down Among The Budded Roses (3:04)
B3 Lord Thomas (6:05)
B4 Pretty Little Willow (2:04)
B5 I Am A Pilgrim (3:29)
B6 Sour Wood Mountains (2:20)
B7 The Time Has Come To Say Goodbye (2:55)
[Credits]
Eric Davidson (banjo/vocals) Caleb Finch (fiddle/vocals) Brooke Moyer (guitar/vocals)
Producer: Joe Thomas, Field Worker: Doris Finch, Designer: Ronald Clyne
[Notes]
In the final volume of three recorded for Folkways Records, the Iron Mountain String Band recreate the sound of old time Appalachian mountain music from the pre-bluegrass era. The band's repertoire is made up of distinctive ballads, songs, and dance tunes, learned from 1950s field recordings from rural southwestern Virginia. With guitar, fiddle, and banjo, intricate and rhythmic dance tunes are represented by tracks such as "Chicken Reel." You can also hear melancholic songs of local and world events including "Cruel War," a plaintive ballad originating from the British Isles. Liner notes include a history of Southern Appalachian mountain music and song notes and lyrics.

An Introduction to Gospel Song

RBF Records – RF 5

Format: Vinyl, LP, Copilation
Country: US
Released: 1962
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Gospel
[Tracklist]
A1 Roll Jordan Roll Fisk: University Jubilee Quartet (02:41)
A2 I've Been 'Buked/Most Done Traveling: Tuskegee Institute Singers (03:20)
A3 Leave it There: Pace Jubilee Singers (03:07)
A4 You Mother Heart Breakers: Rev. J.M. Gates and His Congregation (03:12)
A5 Why Don't You Live So God Can Use You?: Rev. J.M. Gates and His Congregation (03:51)
A6 I Looked Down the Line and I Wondered: Rev. F.W. McGee and His Congregation (03:20)
A7 Jesus the Lord is a Saviour: Rev. F.W. McGee and His Congregation (03:26)
B1 Did I Wonder: Sister Ernestine Washington with Bunk Johnson's Jazz Band (02:58)
B2 I am So Happy (Parts I and II): Lightfoot Solomon Michaux with the Happy Am I Choir and Orchestra (05:41)
B3 I Got Two Wings: Rev. Utah Smith and His Congregation (03:26)
B4 Psalm for Confusion: Mother McClease and her sons (02:48)
B5 When Mother's Gone: The Spirit of Memphis (02:53)
B6 He's a Friend of Mine: The Spirit of Memphis (02:45)
[Credits]
Producer and Liner Notes: Samuel B. Chartersm Designer: Ronald Clyne
[Notes]
From the Fisk Jubilee Singers' restrained vocal arrangements of spirituals to the jazz-influenced music of the "Happy I Am" Choir, gospel music may have changed its trappings, but the heart of the music remains. This collection includes songs and sermons from 1913 to 1954.

Ragtime Piano Days Beyond Recall Trebor Tichenor

Folkways Records – FS 3164

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1979
Genre: Jazz, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Ragtime
[Tracklist]
A1 Hickory Smoked Rag (2:26)
A2 Cotton Bolls (2:58)
A3 Wine Room Rag (2:54)
A4 Dixie Queen (2:17)
A5 Cottonwood Rag (3:26)
A6 Swamptown Shuffle (2:35)
A7 Days Beyond Recall (3:25)
A8 Essay In Ragtime (1:57)
B1 Pineywoods Rag (2:25)
B2 Bantam Step (3:23)
B3 Missouri Rambler (2:29)
B4 Crabapples (3:05)
B5 Pierce City Rag (3:17)
B6 French Pastry Rag (2:56)
B7 Mandy's Broadway Stroll (3:01)
B8 Market St. Rag (2:42)
[Credits]
Trebor Tichenor (piano)
Producer and Liner Notes: Trebor Tichenor, Designer: Ronald Clyne, Photographer: Floride Green
[Notes]
Blessed by ragtimer Eubie Blake, Trebor Tichenor plays the "real stuff." Rags, Tichenor comments, "retain strong ties to the country" — maintaining notably midwestern and southern roots—and are characteristically endowed with folk strains "ebullient" or "ribald," "wistful" or "bittersweet." Tichenor's originals include "Wine Room Rag" and "Hickory-Smoked Rag," but this recording also features pieces from contemporaries Charles Hunter, Robert Hoffman and Percy Wenrich.

Tony Schwartz: Millions of Musicians

Folkways Records – FP 5560

Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1954
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk, Documentary
[Tracklist]
A1 Introduction (01:08)
A2 Music in Speech (01:36)
A3 Rhythm of Words (04:15)
A4 Calls and Whistles (02:20)
A5 Rhythm and Motion (01:59)
B1 Rhythm and Work (03:09)
B2 City Pitchmen (04:40)
B3 Country Auctioneers (01:35)
B4 Improvisation of Instruments (07:49)
B5 Improvisation of Instruments (continued) (04:26)
B6 Imagination and Music (02:31)
[Credits]
Producer, Recorder and Narrater: Tony Schwartz, Cover Artwork: Joseph Carpini
[Notes]
This 1954 release documents the musicality that surrounds us in everyday life―calls and whistles, a toddler's speech, a jump rope rhyme, an auctioneer selling vegetables, and much more. Tony Schwartz captures such sounds on a portable recorder as he goes about his day. Schwartz includes commentary between tracks to create an awareness of the musical nuances in each recording. Liner notes include an introduction by Schwartz and descriptions of the various sounds on each track.

Dan Tyminski: Wheels

Rounder Records – CD 11661-0586-2

Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 2008
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass
{Tracklist}
01 Wheels (2:56)
02 Whose Shoulder Will You Cry On (2:20)
03 Making Hay (3:57)
04 Who Showed Who (3:22)
05 It All Comes Down To You (2:40)
06 How Long Is This Train (2:57)
07 I Ain't Taking You Back No More (2:54)
08 Heads You Win Tails I Lose (3:40)
09 How Many Times (2:30)
10 The One You Lean On (2:42)
11 Knock Knock! (1:52)
12 Some Early Morning (4:29)
[Credits]
Dan Tyminski (guitar/vocals) Justin Moses (banjo/fiddle/dobro/vocals) Barry Bales (bass/vocals) Adam Steffey (mandolin) Ron Stewart (fiddle/banjo) Ron Block (guitar) Vince Gill (vocals) Cheryl White (vocals) Sharon White (vocals)
Produser and Engineer: Dan Tyminski, Photographer: Jimmy Abegg, Designer: Sarah Lainie Radawich, Engineer: Tim Austin, Neal Cappellino, Gary Paczosa, and Sarah Emily Parish
[Notes]
Wheels was released on Rounder Records as part of the Dan Tyminski band in 2008, during a break from playing with the Lonesome River Band. Tyminski played Martin and Bourgeois guitars and Sim Daley played mandolins. Additional personnel includes Adam Steffey on mandolin and Barry Bales on bass. The album won the 2009 International Bluegrass Music Award for Album of the Year and was also nominated for a Grammy.

Rose Maddox with the Vern Williams Band: Beautiful Bouquet

Arhoolie Records – CD 9058

Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 2006
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass, Gospel
[Tracklist]
01 We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder (2:16)
02 Life's Evening Sun (2:40)
03 Church in the Wildwood (2:45)
04 When God Dips His Love in My Heart (2:39)
05 I Can't Feel At Home (3:10)
06 Farther Along (3:21)
07 I'll Fly Away (2:31)
08 In the Sweet By And By (2:51)
09 Kneel At The Cross (2:23)
10 Turn Your Radio On (2:20)
11 Beautiful Bouquet (2:46)
12 Take Me In The Lifeboat (2:28)
13 If We Never Meet Again (3:46)
14 Swing Low Sweet Chariot (3:03)
[Credits]
Rose Maddox (vocals) Delbert Williams (guitar/vocals) Keith Little (guitar/banjo/vocals) Vern Williams (mandolin/vocals) Ed Neff (fiddle/mandolin) Kevin Thompson (bass)
Producer: Chris Strachwitz, Photographer: Kim Ecclesine, Engineer: Michael Cogan
[Notes]
In her prime, Rose Maddox was known as a country and rockabilly singer. But as she got older she spent more and more time singing with bluegrass bands, and this fine album (originally released on LP in 1983) was recorded over the course of two days with the Vern Williams Band. The program consists entirely of gospel songs, and the combination of Williams' slightly gruff high tenor and Maddox's powerful, brassy voice is a surprisingly effective one. The band itself is, for the most part, fairly workmanlike, though there are several sparkling moments of inspiration. They show a particular affinity for songs with tricky and irregular rhythms -- "We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder" is more difficult than they make it sound, and their hocketing vocal arrangement is lots of fun. They also manage to make the extra beats in "Turn Your Radio On" sound completely natural. Other highlights include an appropriately soaring version of "I'll Fly Away" and a soulful rendition of "Church in the Wildwood," but "I Can't Feel at Home" is given a slightly plodding treatment here and the title track is a bit maudlin, even by bluegrass gospel standards. Even with its minor flaws, though, this disc is a welcome reminder of one of country and bluegrass music's most powerful female voices. -- AllMusic Review by Rick Anderson